ONE WEEK LATER
Kelly Severide woke up to the sound of screaming.
His eyes immediately shoot open and he looks over at Alyssa to find her sitting straight up, her hand over her chest, and heavily breathing
"Are you okay, Princess?" he says in a low, gravelly voice since he had just woken up as he sets a hand on her shoulder and she gives a small flinch.
"Nightmare," she mutters.
"Come here," he whispers, pulling her into him as he sets his back to the wall at the head of his bed. He wasn't fully sitting up but he was still leaning against the wall.
She buries her face into his chest as he rubs a hand up and down her back, the other one running through her hair.
"Everything okay?" Leslie Shay asks, knocking on the door before opening it and peering in and Kelly could feel the woman flinch.
"Yeah, just a nightmare," Kelly answers since he knew the brunette wouldn't.
Shay nods before closing the door and heading back to her room.
"I know I've told you this a lot, Princess, but I think you need to go see Dr. Charles," Kelly mutters as he slowly begins to rock the woman in his arms.
"I don't want to," she whispers, her voice low because of tiredness, her voice was sore from screaming, and her face was buried in Kelly's chest.
"I know you don't, Lys, but it'll be good to talk to someone about it."
"I talk to you about it," she answers.
"Someone else, Princess, and you still haven't told me all of it."
"What else do you wanna know?" she mutters.
"Everything, Lys," he answers, still rubbing her back. "Start talking to me."
"I do talk to you, you're the only person I talk to."
"You know what I mean, Princess."
"Can we talk about this in the morning, Kells? I'm tired."
Kells was a nickname that Alyssa had started using for the man. She insisted that she needed a nickname that only she could call him since she was getting tired of calling him Kelly or Kel.
"Yeah," Severide nods, kissing her forehead.
He looks over at his phone and double taps the screen so he could see the time: 3:23 am.
Sighing, he looks down at the woman who was already sleeping and he smiles.
"God, you're beautiful," he mutters, his hand still running through her hair, delicately working out all of the knots, going as slow as he could so he didn't wake her up.
For some reason, he wasn't feeling tired at all. He was enjoying holding the woman while he was awake and being able to tell when she was having a nightmare and stop it before she woke up screaming.
He brushes the hair from her face, his thumb lightly rubbing against her cheek and she lets out a small noise and moves into his touch.
Kelly smiles as he continues to observe the woman, the way her eyes moved underneath her eyelids, the way her small but strong frame rose and fell with every breath she took, and the way she was holding onto the pocket of his sweats, the other hand resting on the bed.
"I wanna know everything," the man whispers.
Alyssa Torres woke up seven hours later, in the same position as she fell asleep in.
When she looked up, she immediately locked eyes with Kelly Severide who was awake.
"Good morning, Kells," she mutters in a sleepy voice.
"Morning, Princess," he answers, the hand still running through her hair and the other one rubbing up and down her back.
"Did you sleep at all?" she asks, wiping her eyes.
"Not since you woke up earlier," the man responds with a small smile.
"You only got like five hours of sleep, Kel," she objects.
"I'm good," he nods, leaning down and pressing his lips to her forehead.
"Kelly," Alyssa whines.
"Come on, let's go get breakfast," he says, gently picking her up a bit so he could slide out from under her and stand up.
"Kelly," she calls, grabbing his arm and stopping him from walking out of the room and pulling him back towards the bed. "You didn't sleep well on the couch and I know you still barely sleep up here."
"I sleep fine, Princess," Severide answers. "I sleep better up here with you than I did on the couch."
"But you're still barely sleeping," she argues.
"We'll take a nap, okay? After breakfast."
Alyssa sighs but nods, allowing Kelly to pull her out of bed and lead her downstairs.
Leslie was sitting on the couch and the man could feel the brunette woman step closer to him and move to the opposite side of him then Leslie was on.
The blonde paramedic sends Alyssa and Kelly both a small smile which the man returns but Alyssa just clings onto Kelly's arm even more, her side pressed to his.
"It's okay, Princess," he mutters so only the other lieutenant could hear as he leads her to the kitchen.
Kelly was still very confused as to why Torres was still so afraid of Shay.
That was something that he wanted her to talk with Dr. Charles about but he knew that she might be scared of him.
"Come on, we're going to go eat upstairs," Kelly says, grabbing a box of six donuts that Leslie had brought home yesterday and took it upstairs along with two mugs of coffee.
"Why are we eating up here?" Lys asks as they sit back on the bed, on top of the blankets this time.
"Because you're terrified of Shay, Princess," he answers. "You said we could talk about going to see Dr. Charles later when we talked this morning."
Alyssa sighs before taking a bite of her donut and setting it back into the box.
"Lys, he can help."
"No one can help, Kelly. Nothing's going to help."
"How do you know if you're not going to try."
"I can't try," the woman answers, tears filling her eyes. "I can't."
Severide notices the tears in her eyes and immediately sets his donut into the box and pushes it aside before pulling the woman into him just as the tears started to fall from her eyes.
"It's okay, Princess, I'm sorry," he mutters as the woman buries her face into his chest, her body moving with each sob she gave. "I'm sorry," he whispers, kissing the top of her head.
Like always, the woman grabs his shirt between her fingers.
Kelly figured that it was so she could keep him close and so that he didn't leave.
The man moved down so he was lying flat on his back with the woman laying on his chest.
"It's okay, Princess, just breathe," he mutters, rubbing up and down her back with one hand while the other one starts brushing through her hair.
He always did this because it always seemed to relax her and he could feel as she relaxed a bit into his frame but she didn't stop crying.
Alyssa continued to cry into the man's chest. She was entirely out of options. The thought of everyone else but Kelly terrified her - even her younger brother, Sammy.
Like always, it didn't take long for her to cry herself to sleep.
It always made the man feel bad whenever she cried herself to sleep. It made him feel that he wasn't doing anything and he couldn't do anything.
"I wish I knew how to fix this," he mutters as he looks down at the woman. "I wish I knew how to get you back to the person that I once tried to hate."
He kisses the top of her head once more, still gently rocking her in his arms to assure that she stayed asleep - which she did for the next few hours.
"Kells," Alyssa mutters about two hours later.
"Mhm, Princess?" Kelly answers, on the verge of falling asleep.
"Are you going to be there?" she asks.
"For what, Princess?"
"Going to see Dr. Charles?"
"I'll always be there, Lys. And we can see if he can come here ... I don't want you leaving here."
She nods, leaning up and gently kissing the man's neck before reaching over and grabbing the box of donuts, setting them on Kelly's chest as she moves to sit on his thighs and he raises an eyebrow, a smirk on his face.
"I'm hungry," she smirks as she grabs her donut from the box and takes another bite of it.
"I can see that," Kelly answers as the woman shoves the donut into her mouth and flips him off.
He smirks before grabbing his own donut and taking a bite of it.
"I'm sorry," she mutters.
"For what?" he asks, one hand on her waist and the other holding his donut.
"Everything," she answers.
"Like?"
"You barely slept or ate this morning," she answers with a small frown.
"I'm fine," He says, shaking his head.
"You keep saying that," The woman says. "But I don't believe you."
"What do you want me to do?" Kelly chuckles.
"Sleep ... eat," she shrugs.
"I'm not tired and I just ate," he answers.
"And I don't believe you."
Kelly gives a small sigh before shoving the rest of the donut into his mouth.
"Happy now?" he says through a mouthful of donut causing the woman to cringe and Kelly swallows before laughing.
"You're disgusting," she says and her face matched her feelings.
"You told me to eat, I ate."
"I didn't mean to shove your face like a pig!" she answers and the man smirks before grabbing another donut, something that Torres had already done.
There was silence for a few minutes before Kelly spoke up, wanting to talk more about Alyssa going to talk to Dr. Charles.
"You want Dr. Charles to come here?" he asks and she looks up from drinking her cold cup of coffee at the man.
"There are too many people at the hospital," she mutters and he gives a small nod, giving her a reassuring smile to make sure that she didn't burst into tears again.
"When do you wanna see him?"
"I don't," she answers and Kelly was just about to open his mouth when Alyssa continued, "but I'll go for you."
He smiles at her and she returns it.
"You wanna see him today?"
Alyssa's face drops as she thinks.
She didn't want to see anyone but Kelly. She didn't even like looking at Leslie Shay. All she wanted to do was stay in bed with Kelly and eat donuts and drink coffee.
"I'll be there, Princess," Kelly says. "Every time you wanna talk to him, I'll be there."
"I'm scared, Kel," she whispers and he moves to sit up, wrapping his arms around her and allowing her to bury her face into his neck, getting some comfort out of it.
"I know, Princess, I know. But I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, okay? I'm always going to be here."
The woman nods into his neck, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wraps his around her waist.
"We can wait, Princess, he doesn't have to come over today, all right? It can wait."
"You have work tomorrow, don't you?" she mutters and he frowns with a nod. "I don't want you to go."
"I know, I don't want to leave you but I have to go to work."
Alyssa lets out a whining groan.
"You'll be okay," he mutters into her ear, placing a kiss to the side of her head right above it.
"You should buy me a fridge for up here," the woman mutters causing Kelly to chuckle.
"I'll consider it, Princess."
It seemed as if every time Severide called Torres 'Princess', she snuggled closer to him which is exactly what she did this time and Kelly pulled her even closer.
"What do you wanna do today, Princess?" he mutters a few moments later when the left side of Alyssa's head fell onto his shoulder, her nose still buried in the crook of his neck.
"Stay here with you," she mutters, her warm lips slightly touching Kelly's neck, sending a shiver through his body and he had to cover a groan - one of which he didn't know the meaning behind.
"Okay," he nods, moving one hand from her waist and running it through her hair, giving a small smile when she relaxed into his body even more, her legs wrapped around his middle.
Kelly moved back a bit so that his back was to the wall, relieving the aching from his back from sitting up for a while.
The woman tightens her legs around his middle, making sure he didn't let her go.
"I'm not gonna let you go, Princess," Severide mutters with a small chuckle.
"I know," Alyssa mutters in response but still tightened her arms and legs once more, making the man smile.
She fell asleep once more since there was basically nothing else for her to do since she couldn't leave the house.
Kelly continued to hold her, not shifting position or anything. He just sat there, one arm wrapped around her middle and the other one running through her hair.
He could still smell the shampoo and conditioner in her hair from when she showered last night before crawling into bed with him.
"You're almost back to normal, Princess, I know you are," he mutters, kissing the side of her head. "You just need time. But I don't wanna wait ... I want you back to the hardass kickass Lieutenant Torres who hated me."
The man continued to hold her close to him, not pulling out his phone or anything, just enjoying the way her body felt against his.
Almost three hours later, just around dinner time, Severide stands up, making sure he still has a tight grip on the woman, and walks out of the room, down the stairs.
Leslie Shay had walked in the last time that Torres was asleep and told him that she was going out with the girl that she was currently seeing.
"Where are we going?" the woman sleepily mutters.
"To the living room," Kelly answers back and the woman gives a small nod.
He looks over at her and notices that she had already fallen back asleep and he smiles, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.
Pulling out a beer and a piece of cold pizza, he walks over to the couch and sits down, the woman still clinging to him.
He turns on the TV and watches the game as he eats his pizza and drinks his beer.
Every once in a while, Alyssa would shift and change where her nose was buried.
"What are we watching?" she mutters a few minutes later as she sets the side of her head to his chest and turns to face the TV.
"Basketball reruns," he answers and she nods. "You know, Christmas is in a few months."
"It's August, Kells."
"Exactly," he answers with a smirk.
Alyssa shakes her head, a small smile on her face.
"Feeling better?" he mutters and she nods.
"What are we doing for Christmas?" she asks.
"I don't know," he answers, hoping that the woman would be better by then but knowing that the chance was less than fifty. "Staying in ... you, me, and Leslie. Drinking."
The woman smirks as the man says the last word before she grabs his half-full beer from his hands and takes a long drink.
"I want to go to my apartment," Torres mutters as she hands Kelly back his bottle and he raises an eyebrow.
"You sure?" he asks as he looks down at her.
Torres nods. "I need clothes and my phone and the door's probably open and my wallet's in there."
"You wanna go right now?" he asks and she nods. "Okay," Kelly answers and Alyssa slides off his lap and sits next to him for a moment before both of them stand up.
They both walk upstairs and Kelly grabs a pair of sweats and another one of his hoodies for the woman before grabbing his own clothes and going to the bathroom down the hall.
Once she was done changing, Torres sits on the bed, her arms wrapped around her own body.
Once Kelly was done changing, he walks back into his bedroom and finds the woman hugging herself and sighs before walking over and kneeling in front of her, placing his hands on her cheeks.
"You're okay, Lys, he's not going to be there. I'm going to be there, okay? I'm not going to leave you."
"I'm scared," she mutters, her eyes filling with tears as her gaze meets Kelly's.
"I know," Kelly answers, kissing her forehead. "I know. But there's nothing to be scared of."
The woman takes a deep breath before nodding and standing up, instantly grabbing Kelly's hand as they begin to walk out of the room and down the stairs.
Kelly grabs his keys and wallet and slides them into his pockets with his phone.
He opened the door and was just about to walk out of it when there was a tug on his hand and he looked over at Alyssa who had tears in her eyes.
"Hey, hey, hey," he says, turning to face her and setting his hands on her shoulders. "Just me and you, okay? Don't focus on anything else. Just look at me, okay?"
She takes a deep breath and Kelly watches as a tear falls and he moves up to wipe it away.
"Hey, Princess, me and you against the world, all right?"
Torres nods and he leads her out of the apartment.
She stays close to his side, her hand tightly clasped to his.
"Kells," she whispers, tears in her eyes once more as they near the elevator where people were walking out.
"Come here," Kelly says, pulling the woman into him as the people walk past them and she buries her face into his chest. "It's okay," he mutters as he feels a few tears stain his shirt.
Once he made sure everyone had gone into their apartments, he led the woman into the elevator where he instantly wraps his arms around her middle and allows her to bury her face into his chest.
"See, look at that, Lys, out of the apartment. You're doing good, it's okay. We just have to get to the garage and into the car."
She nods into his chest and keeps her face buried into it until the elevator dings and the door opens.
Alyssa moves down and grabs his hand, holding it tightly, as he leads her out of the elevator and towards his car.
He opens the passenger door for her and she quickly slides in and he closes it before walking around the car and climbing into the driver's seat.
As soon as he was seated, the woman instantly grabbed his hand before he even got the chance to put his seatbelt on.
"You okay, Princess?" he asks and she nods. "Okay."